Cypress College is closed for an 11-day holiday period. The campus will re-open on the morning of Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

Classes begin the week of January 25, 2012.

Online portal services through MyGateway are expected to remain available during the break.

The sun sets on the fall semester and on 2011. Have a wonderful holiday season!

Posted by Marc S. Posner

Cypress College's 2010-2011 End of the Year Report is available. This annual report was presented to the NOCCCD Board of Trustees by Cypress College President Dr. Michael Kasler last month.

Cypress College's 2010-2011 End of the Year Report provides a detailed look at the accomplishments during the academic year running from July 2010 through June 2011.

The annual report is presented each fall to the Trustees of the North Orange County Community College District by Cypress College President Dr. Michael J. Kasler.

Dr. Kasler shared the report with board members during a meeting last month.

Posted by Marc S. Posner

The Kick Off for the 37th Annual Americana Awards was held at The Anaheim White House Restaurant on Wednesday, November 16, 2011. The event formally introduces the 2012 honorees and opens "Americana Season" and begins the countdown to the February 25, 2012 event.

Each year, the Cypress College Foundation presents the Americana Awards as a way to honor people making a difference in the eight communities within the college's primary service area. The Americana Awards also represent the single-largest fundraising event undertaken by Cypress College.

In 2011, nearly 700 people attended and Americana produced it's best results ever. Proceeds from Americana fund projects at the college that otherwise would not receive financial support. Included are the college's scholarship, book loan and emergency loan programs.

On February 25, 2012, the Cypress College Foundation will hold the 37th Annual Americana Awards, sponsored by Union Bank. The event takes place in the Grand Ballroom of the Disneyland Hotel.

Meet the Americana Award recipients:

• 'CNN Hero' Recipient Bruno Serato Selected as Americana Man of the Year
• 2012 Americana Citizens of the Year Selected from Eight Cities Served by Cypress College
• Andreas Psaras, Owner of Harry's Place Cafe, is Americana Citizen of the Year from Stanton
• James and Shirley Bailey of Rossmoor are Americana Citizens of the Year from Los Al/Rossmoor
• George and Barbara Mast are Americana Citizens of the Year from La Palma
• Sandy Thomas, Chamber of Commerce President, is Americana Citizen of the Year from Garden Grove
• Jeanne St. Clair, Volunteer and Realtor, is Americana Citizen of the Year from Cypress
• Art Brown, Long-Time City Council Member, is Americana Citizen of the Year from Buena Park
• Paul and Carol Bostwick, Active Community Members, are Americana Citizen of the Year from Anaheim
• Donald Shoemaker of Grace Community Church is Americana Citizen of the Year from Seal Beach

Posted by Marc S. Posner

With the fall 2011 semester officially over, and Cypress College preparing to close between this Friday and January 3, 2011, service hours have shifted off of their traditional schedule.

Here are the hours of operation (pdf file) for a wide variety of campus services through the first week of instruction in January, 2012.

Nearly all offices are open through Thursday of this week. Instructional areas such as the Library/Learning Resource Center are closed with the exception of limited hours to resolve registration holds. The Bookstore and Food Services are closed entirely.

Cypress College closes at 5 p.m. on Thursday (December 22, 2011) for an 11-day holiday period. The campus will re-open on the morning of Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

Classes begin the week of January 25, 2012.

Online portal services through MyGateway are expected to remain available, with the exception of maintenance being performed tomorrow.

Posted by Marc S. Posner

We have received the following notice from our District Informaiton Technology Office regarding work to the MyGateway system on Wednesday morning

The work — which is intended to improve performance during peak registration periods — will take MyGateway completely offline between 6-10 a.m. on the morning of Wednesday, December 21, 2011.

On Wednesday December 21, we will be performing scheduled maintenance on myGateway between 6:00am to 10:00am. This process will affect all myGateway users.

The purpose of the procedure is to address the performance issues that were experienced this past Registration period. As recommended by SunGard, we will be tuning the system and performing load tests on myGateway to determine the effectiveness of the changes that are made.

We are aware that Faculty will be entering grades from now through January 5th, so this time slot was chosen to cause as little impact as possible."

We apologize for the brief inconvenience this will cause some, but I think we'll all agree that the results of the work will be much appreciated.

Posted by Marc S. Posner

The Cypress College Financial Aid Office offers programs to help students cope with rising costs of a higher education. The information below is designed to help those who have applied for aid prepare for Spring 2012.

Do you need help paying for Cypress College? Visit the financial aid office online, in person, or explore your "Financial Aid" tab in myGateway for more information.

It's also good to remember that it's never too late to apply.

Attending Cypress College in Fall 2012/Spring 2013? Be sure to complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by March 2, 2012 for priority consideration. Applications will be available at www.fafsa.gov starting January 1, 2012.

You can learn more about Financial Aid in this letter sent earlier in the week to all students who are enrolled in the program.

Posted by Marc S. Posner

What started in a written class assignment, a daughter's broken phone and a desire for an A has turned into an international business for six Cypress College students and their Management and Marketing instructor. The group has brought the Plugggg — a small, durable and low-cost MP3 music player — to market. Student Todd Applebaum sat down to discuss the device. Video recorded on 12/7/11.

In what may be the ultimate David vs. Goliath business battle, a group of Cypress College students and their Management and Marketing instructor enter the holiday retail season with the introduction of a brand new digital music player.

The six students and faculty member Susan Hunter teamed up to evolve the credit-card-sized device from a written class assignment to a product that went on sale roughly a month after the world's largest company — Apple, Inc. — introduced it's latest music-playing smart phone.

The Plugggg is at the opposite end of the spectrum, in terms of cost and slick features. At $29.95, the device holds about 2,000 songs, integrates with in-car navigation systems, and won't shatter when dropped — a feature that prompted its creation.

All team members, including founder Todd Applebaum, derive a significant measure of pride in the fact that everyone involved is connected to Cypress College.

"We're very proud of what it turned out to be," said Applebaum. "I'm not going to be shy, when Susan came on board and started guiding us with it, I felt proud to be a part of Cypress College and this project. This is stuff that you hear from your MITs and your Harvards. Here we are a community college."

About 18 months ago, Applebaum enrolled at Cypress College after the business he ran for 20 years collapsed under the weight of the stalling economy. Applebaum, who had lived near the college for about a dozen years, said he selected the campus because of it's proximity to his home and an affinity developed while regularly walking the track or shopping at the swap meet.

While enrolled in a course with Hunter, Applebaum's daughter dropped her new smart phone while using it to play music as she walked home from school. At roughly the same time, Hunter presented students with an assignment in which they conceptualized a new product or a significant evolution in an existing product category.

An indestructible, small, and cost-friendly music player seemed like a good way for Applebaum to earn himself an A, he noted while discussing the product this week.

That's when concept met reality.

Classmate Allen Chen explained to him how emerging technology made the device possible. Further, Chen's family in Taiwan (where he is now attending a university) was involved in the tech-manufacturing business.

"A lot of good ideas never come to implementation," Hunter said of the assignments she has given since she began as an adjunct faculty member at Cypress College in 1992. "But, Todd actually took the idea and ran with it."

In addition to Hunter, Applebaum, and Chen, students Eric Phan, Derek Ameler, Anthony Gober, and Daniel Meza are involved in Plugggg with responsibilities ranging from advertising to photography to the website.

"We have white. We have black. We have Vietnamese. We have Chinese, Korean. We just have every mixture of people together on this project," Applebaum said. "We're like your Neapolitan ice cream."

Instructor Susan Hunter sat down to discuss the Plugggg MP3 player and her students who developed the device. Video recorded on 12/7/11

Posted by Marc S. Posner

Who knows if it ever really "looks like Chrismas" in Southern California. But, this morning, following a rainy day yesterday, the campus is beautiful and the San Gabriel Mountains — visible between the SEM and L/LRC buildings — have their first significant snow of the season. Let's just say: it's beginning to look a lot like winter break.

Posted by Marc S. Posner

The Cypress College Foundation Scholarship and the Bernard Osher Scholarship applications are available beginning today.

In addition to the interactive forms available here, hard copies can be picked up at either the Foundation or Financial Aid offices.

The deadline is February 17, 2012; applications are to be returned to the Financial Aid office before 5 pm on that date.

Requirements for each scholarship are listed on the first page of each of the applications.

• Foundation Scholarship Application (201 kb PDF file)
• Bernard Osher Scholarship Application (250 kb PDF file)

Posted by Marc S. Posner

This photo, from CNN.com, is one of several posted from the 2011 CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute, which was held last night at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Bruno Serato, who will be honored by Cypress College in February, was one of 10 honored by CNN. The caption on CNN.com accompanying this photo of Serato at the awards reads: "We should not have hungry children in our own backyard," Serato says. Since 2005, Serato has been serving free pasta dinners to children, many of whom are poor and live in motels with their families.

Bruno Serato — the Cypress College Foundation's 2012 Americana Man of the year — was one of 10 people honored last night as a CNN Hero during "An All-Star Tribute" hosted by Anderson Cooper and broadcast live on the cable network.

Serato owns the Anaheim White House restaurant and feeds some 300 children, many living in nearby motels, each day. The tribute, broadcast live from the Shrine Auditorium, featured a number of celebrities and performances by Kid Rock and Miley Cyrus.

Serato was introduced by comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

CNN bills the award as being for "everyday people who are working to make the world a better place." This is the fifth year CNN has presented the awards.

Following the show, and the introduction of Robin Lim as the 2011 CNN Hero, Serato spoke with Nancy Luna of The Orange County Register:

"I feel so emotional. It was fantastic to be with all these people. All the people's stories were just amazing. It was overwhelming. You cry on every story. It was touching. I feel like I just won an Academy Award. It was a dream of my life."

On February 25, 2012, Serato will again be honored — this time as 2012 Man of the Year, an award presented by the Cypress College Foundation for philanthropic endeavors in the communities served by the campus. The 37th Annual Americana Awards will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Disneyland Hotel. Eight others will be recognized as Citizens of the Year.

You can learn more about Bruno in this @Cypress Online article and in the CNN profile of him.

Posted by Marc S. Posner